


take a step, find your way

by xenoglossy



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-28 07:27:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22610014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xenoglossy/pseuds/xenoglossy
Summary: Ann isn't sure what to do with herself now that she's not a Phantom Thief. Shiho is helpful, mostly.
Relationships: Suzui Shiho/Takamaki Ann
Comments: 2
Kudos: 48
Collections: Chocolate Box - Round 5





	take a step, find your way

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ItsPineTime](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ItsPineTime/gifts).



Ann was lying face-down on her bed when her phone chimed a notification. She rolled over to look at it. It was a text from Shiho.

A few months ago, her heart had leapt every time a message from Shiho popped up on her screen--even more so once they’d started sorta-kinda long-distance dating. Now she didn’t feel much about it at all. Not that Ann didn’t still like Shiho a lot; it wasn’t anything Shiho had done, or anything. It was just that every time she got a message a part of her still hoped that it was one of the Phantom Thieves trying to get everyone to meet up and go to Mementos, even though she knew it wasn't. All of that was over now. Which of course was a good thing--world saved, happy ending for everyone. But Ann had never expected to miss it so much.

She read the message from Shiho. _Hey Ann_ , it said, _can we talk?_

Ann tried to ignore the knot of worry forming in her stomach. _Sure_ , she replied, _what’s up?_

There was a long pause before the response, or at least it felt that way, although when she actually looked at the timestamps it hadn’t been that long.

_You’ve been, well, kinda weird lately. Is everything okay?_

Well, no, it wasn’t, but what was she going to say? “It’s a long story, but basically I was going into the collective unconscious to make bad people confess their crimes, and now I don’t have to do that anymore, but I kinda miss it”?

 _Yeah totally!_ Ann wrote back. _I’ve just been kinda busy with school._ It wasn’t a very good excuse, but she wasn’t that quick on her feet with that kind of stuff and waiting too long would have been suspicious.

_Come on, you know I know you too well to fall for that._

Despite herself, Ann smiled. It was just so... Shiho, to be that blunt about it. But she still needed an excuse.

 _Okay, not just school but the modeling jobs_ , she wrote, and then added, _It's a lot, you know?_

_I know, but you’ve been dealing with all that for a while, right?_

_Yeah, but now it’s 3rd year, I have exam prep and stuff._

_Okay, I get that. But if there’s ever something else you want to talk about, I just want you to know you can tell me._

_Thanks_ , Ann replied.

She thought about what Shiho had said for most of the next day. Could Ann tell her what was really going on? Should she? Would Shiho just think she’d gone crazy?

Eventually it occurred to her to wonder: did she really think she could go _forever_ without telling Shiho about the Phantom Thieves? It had only been one year of her life, of course, but it had been a really important year. It had changed her. If this thing between her and Shiho lasted, or even if it didn’t but they stayed friends, could she just keep that from someone she was so close to and never mention it? And Shiho did, as she’d said, know Ann really well. She already suspected there was something Ann wasn’t telling her. If Ann kept on not telling her, Shiho might think Ann didn’t trust her, and that would hurt her, which was totally the last thing Ann wanted to do.

No, she decided finally, if Shiho was important to her, which she was, Ann had to at least try to tell her. Not over text message, though, that would only make it seem more like some weird joke. It would have to wait until the next time they saw each other in person.

\---

“Wow,” said Shiho, when Ann had finished telling her story.

They were sitting on the floor of Ann’s bedroom, just like old times, more or less, except that Ann had never before been so nervous--afraid, even--to look at Shiho’s face. What should she say? People in dramas always said stuff at this point like “You do believe me, don’t you?”, which of course just made them sound crazier. She settled for, “I know it’s, uh, kinda a lot to take in.”

“Yeah,” said Shiho. “I mean... I think it’s amazing, what you guys did. But, you know, it’s hard to know where to start, talking about it.”

Ann felt a rush of gratitude. “You’re the amazing one,” she said. “Most people wouldn’t just believe all that.”

Shiho shrugged. “You’re a really bad liar.”

“Gee, thanks,” said Ann.

“Hey, I thought you _wanted_ me to believe you.”

“You’re the worst,” Ann said, laughing.

After a moment, though, she sobered up. “Seriously, though,” she said, “that’s what’s been bothering me lately. I mean, I just feel like nothing I do now has that much purpose, compared to that? Maybe that’s stupid, I don’t know.”

Shiho put an arm around Ann. “I don’t think it’s stupid. But I think if you’re not doing anything that feels meaningful to you right now, the best solution is to find something that does feel meaningful.”

Ann sighed. “Yeah, but I don’t know what would. I mean, it felt like we were changing the world, you know? Like we had real power.”

“Plenty of people change the world without any magic or anything.”

“Yeah, but those people aren’t me. I mean, all the other Phantom Thieves have their... their _things_ already, right? They know what corner of the world they want to change. The police force, the professional art world, even the track team. But what can _I_ do?”

“Well, I don’t think you’re going to change the art world, so you can cross that one off,” Shiho said. Ann made a face at her.

“But really,” Shiho went on, “what about modeling? From what you’ve told me, that’s an industry that could stand some changing. And you’re already involved in it, so that’s probably the easiest place to start.”

“That’s true,” said Ann, “but I don’t know what I could change. I mean, I’m not somebody that important people listen to, it’s not like I’m a big name or anything.”

“I guess you’ll just have to become a big enough name that people have to listen to you, then.”

“In a totally weird coincidence, I was already planning to become a big name so that my long-distance girlfriend could see me on magazine covers.”

“Wow, that’s so sweet,” said Shiho. “She’s a lucky girl.”

“ _Anyway_ ,” said Ann, “I don’t want to wait around doing nothing until I get to that level.”

“So start small. Even if you can’t go after the people who are really causing problems, I’m sure there’s stuff you can do to make the scene a slightly nicer place for the younger girls coming into it.”

“I guess,” said Ann.

"So there you go," said Shiho. "You can figure it out for yourself from there."

“I hope so. I’m not sure I’m smart enough for it.”

"I don't think it's about being smart--not in the way where you do well on tests, at least. It's just keeping your eyes open and listening to people to find out where the problems are, and then having the courage to do something about them.”

“I guess I can try that,” Ann conceded.

“You can definitely try that. And I’ll be cheering for you from afar, as always.”

“Thanks,” said Ann, leaning into Shiho and resting her head on Shiho’s shoulder. “You’re the best, you know that?”

“I should,” Shiho said, “you tell me often enough.”

“Ugh, come on, why do you always have to ruin the moment?” Ann said. But she was laughing, and then Shiho started laughing too, even though nothing was all that funny, and for the first time in a while, Ann really did feel like everything was going to be okay.


End file.
